Optimizing the bioplastic chemical building block with wastewater sludge as the feedstock using carbon-hydrogen-oxygen framework

Abstract

The ever-growing production of non-recyclable plastic products causes plastic pollution to be the one of most pressing environmental issues. The transition of petrochemical-based plastic with eco-friendly biodegradable plastic has become the promising solution to overcome the plastic pollution crisis. Recent research addressed the production of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA), which is a class of bioplastic through the valorisation of wastewater sludge. However, the high production cost and limited process feasibility studies hinder the commercialisation of the waste-derived PHA synthesis process. Since there is a lack of exploration on material integration by implementing an industrial symbiosis network that could potentially enhance the sustainability of waste-derived PHA production, this paper proposes the optimisation of bioplastic production by creating a carbon-hydrogen-oxygen industrial symbiosis network (CHOSYN) to solve sludge management and resources consumption problem concurrently. The atomic targeting approach is used to benchmark the resources and waste discharge from the model. The findings indicate that the proposed process framework attains sustainability improvement in economic and environmental aspects as compared to the conventional PHA synthesis process. An optimal biorefinery eco-industrial park (EIP) design with the involvement of PHA production is presented and the implication of results obtained is also discussed in this article.